ISIS And The Coming Escalation In Iraq

Kurdistan Has a New Neighbor – The Islamic State

A mere two and a half weeks ago, Falah Mustafa Bakir, the head of foreign relations for the KRG (Kurdish Regional Government), gave an interview to Vice News that contained several quite stunning statements (see below for details). At the time (i.e., in late July), the Kurdish Peshmerga had just taken over areas of Iraq that have been contested for a long time. Specifically, the Kurds regarded these areas – most important among them the oil-rich city of Kirkuk – as their territory.

There was an agreement that the status of Kirkuk would eventually be put to a vote, but Iraq's central government kept delaying the promised referendum, probably because it suspected that the likely outcome would be a vote in favor of Kirkuk joining the autonomous Kurdish region. This would presumably have deprived Baghdad of a sizable chunk of oil revenue. So when ISIS conquered Mosul, the Kurdish Peshmerga took the opportunity to take over Kirkuk. The Iraqi army had already fled from the disputed region, so all the Peshmerga had to do was waltz in and move into the now deserted former Iraqi military bases (similar to ISIS, they also ended up with a nice chunk of Iraqi army equipment).

In late July, an uneasy truce obtained between the Kurds and ISIS. The general view on the ground was that ISIS could simply not afford to fight too many enemies at once. Moreover, rumor had it that ISIS and the KRG had worked out a sub rosa agreement to respect their respective areas of control and not tread on each other.

The interview with Bakir begins at approx. 0:50 in the video below. Several of his statements, as well as his demeanor and tone of voice strongly suggest that some kind of deal with ISIS did indeed exist at the time. Among other things, Bakir mentioned that the Iraqi army was lacking in morale, in spite of being extremely well equipped and in theory well trained, and that its dishonorable flight meant the Peshmerga had no reason to ever leave Kirkuk again. After all, so Bakir, if Baghdad really cared about Kirkuk, its army wouldn't have turned tail and run away. Among his most stunning statements were however the following:

“The reality on the ground in Iraq has changed…today's Iraq is different from last week's Iraq.

[…]

“The political landscape in Iraq has changed…the balance of power has changed…and now we are a neighbor to another emerging state in Iraq: The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Today, Iraq is not our neighbor – ISIS is our neighbor.”

Part of a series of reports by Vice News on Iraq from late July, including an interview with Kurdish foreign relations chief Falah Mustafa Bakir (between 0:50 to 3:40).

However, in the meantime the situation has once again changed. ISIS is in fact fighting the Kurds now, and the vaunted Peshmerga were actually on the run until US airstrikes slowed ISIS down. Actually, they have so far failed to really slow it down much.

A fairly recent map of the territory controlled and/or contested by ISIS via the Economist. Since this map was drawn, a few days have passed, and the Northeastern border has undergone a few additional shifts (see below for details) – click to enlarge.

The Islamic State Keeps Growing In Spite of Air Strikes

The initial reaction of ISIS to the news of US involvement was actually glee. Since the KRG and Baghdad also welcomed the US intervention, we may assume that almost everybody in Iraq is happy now. As Jason Ditz reports:

“ISIS fighters took to Twitter with glee over the weekend to celebrate the Obama Administration’s decision to join the war against them in Iraq, seeing it as both a big morale booster and a potentially huge recruitment tool.

“The crisis will become a gift,” noted one, saying that the US was ISIS biggest enemy, and that US involvement would quicken their takeover of the Persian Gulf. Many of the Twitter posts expressed eagerness to target US warplanes now involved in the war, as well as hopes to attack other US allies across the region.

New English-language ISIS videos are emerging urging Westerners to join ISIS as soon as possible. Some of those in the videos identify themselves as Americans and Britons. ISIS already had a bumper crop of Westerners join the war in Syria over the past couple of years, with large numbers of fighters coming from EU member nations. The early signs are that the US involvement will only help bolster those numbers further.

[…]

ISIS leaders seem to understand much better than the Obama Administration that the US involvement in the war is a game-changer on the ground, and not the good kind like you’d want.”

(emphasis added)

With support from US air strikes, Kurdish Peshmerga forces managed to dislodge ISIS from several villages it had captured in the course of its recent march on Erbil, but even while that happened, the militants took several other towns in Diyala province, and arguably more important ones. The IS-held territory has increased further as a result.

ISIS is now approaching the border between Iraq and Iran, which is almost certain to be regarded as an alarming development by Iran's government. As we noted already back when the group first came to everybody's attention, a free-for-all in Iraq remains a good possibility (reportedly, Iranian military advisors are already in Iraq, in parallel with American ones).

For the details we once again consult a summary by Jason Ditz that links to a number of further information sources. Note that at the time of writing, the situation described below is already a day or so in the past, so there is a good chance that the realities on the ground will have shifted again by the time you read this. The main point is that ISIS' conquest continues to have a great deal of momentum. Moreover, the report contains information that indirectly confirms that the fighting force ISIS is able to muster must be quite large by now:

“With US warplanes supporting them, the Kurdish Peshmerga has pushed back against ISIS in the area just southwest of Irbil,taking the villages of Gwer and Makhmour back, along the border between Kurdistan and the Nineveh Province.

The US airstrikes seem primarily focused in this area, trying to blunt the ISIS offensive as it nears the Kurdish capital at Irbil. Yet this isn’t the only site of combat between ISIS and the Peshmerga.

Jalawla had been the site of an ISIS suicide bombing earlier in the day, which killed 10 Peshmerga fighters and wounded 80 others. By the end of the day, the Peshmerga was in retreat, fleeing northward, closer to their home territory.

The town is an important stop on the road between Baghdad and Iran, and just 20 miles from the Iranian border is the farthest east ISIS has yet advanced. It also gives them strategic control over yet another northern highway, limiting the flow of forces between Kurdistan and the remaining territory of the Iraqi central government.

The US air war at present seems focused on the Kurdish-ISIS battles, though ISIS seems to be hitting targets all over their frontier, trying to force the Peshmerga into spreading themselves thin, and is having continued success in taking meaningful territory, despite the loss of Gwer and Makhmour earlier today.”

(emphasis added)

What we find most remarkable in this report is that it once again confirms that ISIS is able to concurrently strike numerous targets spread over a large area. Not to forget, the group continues to fight the Syrian army as well and is lately even engaging the Lebanese army. Most of the equipment it has captured in Iraq was reportedly moved to the Syrian theater, but presumably some of that will find its way back into Iraq now.

It is by now a near certainty that US involvement in the new Iraq war is set to expand considerably. President Obama has gone – within just three days – from “protecting the Yazidi and Erbil” to “protecting Baghdad” and now to “stopping the formation of an Islamic State on the territory of Iraq and Syria”. The “limited engagement” can no longer be expected to last a mere few weeks, but will be of indeterminate duration. Congress is split between those who want war, those who want even more war, and those who want all-out war. The media are of course gung-ho as well (no surprise there). President Obama took pains to point out that it was actually not he, but president Bush who signed the withdrawal agreement with Iraq's government. He also expressed regret that the US engaged only in limited aerial bombardment in Libya, instead of providing support to the new government (by means of boots on the ground, one presumes).

As a practical matter, it should be pointed out that aerial attacks already require a limited presence of ground troops, so as to properly guide the strikes. Moreover, since US military advisors are already in Iraq, it will only be a small step to full-scale escalation, especially in light of the fact that it seems nigh impossible to achieve all the lofty goals enumerated by the president solely by air strikes.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad

“Further destabilization rocked Iraq on Sunday as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused President Fouad Massoum of engaging in a "coup" by failing to choose a new prime minister by an Sunday's deadline.

In a last-minute bid to cling to power, Mr. al-Maliki declared the inaction to be "a clear constitutional violation" and said he planned to file a legal complaint against Mr. Massoum, who was named the new president in late July.

“This attitude represents a coup on the constitution and the political process in a country that is governed by a democratic and federal system,” Mr. al-Maliki said in a surprise address on Iraqi TV. “The deliberate violation of the constitution by the president will have grave consequences on the unity, the sovereignty, and the independence of Iraq and the entry of the political process into a dark tunnel," he said.

Mr. al-Maliki's party won the largest share of seats in the parliament and said the president should have appointed a prime minister from that bloc by now. A parliamentary session to discuss picking a new prime minister has been delayed until Aug. 19.

In the hours following Mr. al-Maliki's accusation, Brett McGurk, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, announced via Twitter that the U.S. would continue to support Mr. Massoum. "Fully support President of Iraq Fuad Masum as guarantor of the Constitution and a PM nominee who can build a national consensus," he tweeted.”

“Iraqi troops, security forces and tanks surged into Baghdad on Sunday as political turmoil deepened over who should lead the country. Military tanks were deployed to several neighborhoods in central Baghdad, two Iraqi police officials told CNN. The officials said there are also significantly more troops in Baghdad's Green Zone, the secure area where many government buildings, the military headquarters and the U.S. Embassy are located.

The stepped-up troop presence comes as Iraqi forces battled Islamist militants in northern Iraq, and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki accused Iraq's newly elected President of violating the country's constitution by extending the deadline for Iraq's biggest political coalitions to nominate a candidate for prime minister.

The precise reason for the growing number of troops in the Iraqi capital was unclear.But CNN military analyst retired Lt. Col. Rick Francona described it as an "ominous" development.

"You've got Nuri al-Maliki refusing to step down. Now he's mobilized not just security troops loyal to him, but now he's mobilized army units to put tanks in the streets.Some of the bridges have been closed," Francona said. "It looks like he's trying to lock down the city in some sort of confrontation with the President, so this does not portend well.”

(emphasis added)

In other words, the reason for the growing number of troops occupying Baghdad is actually crystal-clear. Al-Maliki evidently realizes that political power depends on who's got whom outgunned, especially in today's Iraq. After failing to consummate any of the power-sharing deals he promised to engage in before he was elected, al-Maliki incidentally retained not only the office of prime minister, but also that of interior minister and minister of defense. In other words, he formally controls the police and the army – and apparently he controls them de facto as well. As the expert interviewed in the above excerpted article drily notes at one point:

“U.S. officials who put their faith in al-Maliki for years may have misjudged him, Francona said.”

This was hardly the US government's first error of judgment in Iraq and is highly likely not to have been the last.

Iraq's new president Fouad Massoum was elected by parliament with a large majority. An unwritten agreement regarding the division of power in Iraq stipulates that the president must be a Kurd, the prime minister a Shi'ite and the president of parliament a Sunni. This tradition continues to be respected – it is only al-Maliki personally who is increasingly seen as a divisive figure. Massoum is an “old hand” in Iraqi politics and his decision to postpone the nomination of the prime minister is a strong sign that an attempt to unseat al-Maliki is underway.

(Photo credit: Reuters)

Things are happening at grat speed in Iraq these days. While we were writing the above, it transpired that Maliki has been officially forced out as prime minister of Iraq – but refuses to accept the decision.

“Iraq's president named a new prime minister to end Nuri al-Maliki's eight year rule on Monday, but the veteran leader refused to go after deploying militias and special forces on the streets, creating a dangerous political showdown in Baghdad. Washington, which helped install Maliki following its 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, congratulated Haidar al-Abadi, a former Maliki lieutenant who was named by President Fouad Masoum to replace him.

But Maliki's Dawa Party declared his replacement illegal, and Maliki's son-in-law said he would overturn it in court. Washington delivered a stern warning to Maliki not to "stir the waters" by using force to cling to power.

(emphasis added)

Presumably the outcome will depend on whether Maliki can keep control of the armed forces.

Conclusion – An Intractable Situation

ISIS has attracted an entire generation of radicalized Sunni militants to the region. If one watches interviews with their enemies such as e.g. Peshmerga fighters, one topic that is occasionally mentioned is that they don't seem to fear death much. Combined with their well-known brutality, this unfoubteldy makes them a formidable fighting force. However, there is evidently far more to ISIS than that.

In this context, we recommend watching the Vice News report on ISIS filmed in Raqqa, the current capital of the “caliphate”. One impression one comes away with is that ISIS is quite careful not to alienate the population too much, in spite of strictly enforcing the sharia. Along similar lines, since ISIS is running Mosul, a number of Sunnis that have initially fled have returned to the city – which for the first time in an eternity has electricity around the clock. ISIS is a bit like Hitler in that way: it is so to speak making the trains run on time, while mercilessly killing large numbers of its perceived enemies and assorted “apostates” at the same time. The group also runs what appears to be a highly effective propaganda campaign – not only via electronic media, but also on the ground in the areas it conquers (its recruitment drive in Iraq is flourishing).

The Islamic State even has something like a national anthem by now, a jihadist anasheed (a piece of Islamic a capella music with very light or no instrumentation) – “Ummaty Qad Laha Farujn” (My Ummah, Dawn Has Appeared) – which actually sounds quite interesting (never mind the martial lyrics). In fact, the music is probably the only good thing to come from ISIS so far:

All of the above suggests that it will be exceedingly difficult to effectively destroy ISIS. One method of countering it would in theory be the strategy that has already been successfully employed in almost defeating its predecessor organization AQI (“Al Qaeda in Iraq”). This mainly involved alienating AQI from its local support base. A guerrilla force cannot persist unless it has the support of the local population. However, it seems uncertain whether the same strategy can be used with success again. For one thing, Maliki's suppression of the Sunnis has made ISIS the lesser evil in the eyes of many locals. For another thing, the organization has evolved a great deal and is highly unlikely to repeat AQI's mistakes.

It seems to us that if the goals the president has announced in recent days are to be achieved, nothing short of a full-scale invasion of Iraq (as well as of Syria for good measure) is likely to suffice – and even then, success is by no means guaranteed. Another possibility – a remote one at this stage, but it cannot be ruled out just yet – is that the regional forces arrayed against ISIS actually get their act together for a change.

A map of the Ummayad Caliphate, which lasted from AD 661 to AD 750. In terms of territory, this was the largest of the three early Islamic caliphates. It was also far more tolerant than the retro-Islam preached by ISIS – click to enlarge.

Imagine you are a young man living in a country with no decent TV, no rock n roll, no football, no basketball and no beer. Where the girls all dress in barbecue covers and the big leisure time activity is studying scripture.

No they don't hate you because of "your freedoms" they hate you because you are criminals and destroyed a whole region for your intrest. Just name one country where the US has put it's hand and things went great after that. Just one

I don't know about the rest of you, but my day remains the same whether so durka in Iraq is killing his neighbors or not. I don't base my life on what some other idiot is doing. Too busy protecting myself from the idiots here instead.

yeah...... I look at the peeps that feel isolated from the West's decisions feeling they have "remote immunity" ...when in fact the agenda will bring the same hell in spades right back to them most likely in a pattern quite similar to the one previously displayed......after all ....nature enjoys the luxury of time

iraq is about a third the size of iran, whereas iran has a land mass of 627,000 sq.miles. it is over 5x the size of britain or italy, and equal to the combined areas of texas, new mexico, arizona, and CALIFORNIA-- so... that makes iraq the size of california and half of texas!

It's been my theory for years that the mass dump of metal from England, Canada and others, coupled with the derivative / reindeer games to crush the price of oil was intentional and intended to deny the USSR or it's only sources of foreign currency.

Couple this with a defense buildup in the West and the USSR was forced to capitulate on direct geopolitical competition; they faced an vast increase in spending to maintain any hope of parity while their real income was crushed.

And so they surrendered (or appeared to - a discussion for another day).

Seems to me like ISIS skipped the middle step, the awkward growing-and-proving yourself stage, and advanced straight to "we run sophisticated, highly coordinated operations, have top notch propaganda and recruiting, we have the funds, and we have shown we mean business."

I sometimes wonder if an intelligence agency set out to create a terror group, what it would look like?

Good point. This leads me to think that the funds they are using come from fiat petrodollars. The easiest way to deal with them is destroy the currency that keeps their everready battery going which seems to be in the works.

I sometimes wonder if an intelligence agency set out to create a terror group, what it would look like?

Likely not as good as this one, the press sees them as magic men.

Incidently,,, for anyone who is interested, The Russians didn't surrender,,, they changed tactics, Somenoe said; He who sows the wind reaps the whirlwind, another man said; Yoiu can start the war but you can't stop the war, it is going to be a war between the rich and the poor, the believers and the non-believers, he also said who he thought would win, but I can't remember! Anyone remember this? Who said it? was it Nostradamus?

Saudi Arabia; Qatar; Kuwait; people buying their oil, gas, water, and electricity; taxes; shake downs; the Sunni street; slave auctions*. The US and other powers provides a lot of their equipment indirectly as it is captured by ISIS.

*One Yazidi girl phoned her dad from a group of captive Yazidi women who still had a hidden phone to say she was going to be sold for $10.

I watch with detatched amusement as Western Civilization commits cultural suicide by allowing this to exist in the name of "religious tolerance" when in fact, it should be mecilessly destroyed. 1,000 years of progress destroyed by effete Western leadership. Glad to be on the downhil slope.

"The Haditha Dam project was conceived in the late 1960s; construction began in 1977. The dam embankment was designed by the Soviet Union's Ministry of Energy... It was conceived of as a multi-purpose project that would generate hydroelectric power, regulate the flow of the Euphrates, and provide water for irrigation. Construction lasted between 1977 and 1987 and was a joint undertaking by the Soviet Union and Iraqi governments."

I've been to Iraq (x2) and can tell you first hand that Sunni jihadists are cowardly pussies. If you look at their actions today they speak volumes - murdering and raping women and children. Nothing would give me more pleasure then having another oppourtunity to wipe these pieces of shit off the planet and deliver to them their 72 virgins.

For the anti warmongerers - you can Robin Williams yourself. There has always been and will always be war. Might as well kill these fuckers that gang rape women and children for a living.

Indeed. Voluntarily going off to fight the oil company and bankster wars is not something that I have a problem with at all. Have at it. At the end of the day the tax man, government busy bodies, and assorted agencies have been more of a threat to our way of life than any CIA funded islamo terrorists. In fact, much of the fire power these religous zealots have were suppled to them by the same government busy bodies, tax man, and assorted agencies.

Voluntary socialism is A-OK in my book, but the socialists wouldn't want people to opt out of their schemes.

It also takes LOTS of authority worshiping peasants who believe those with money are more "right" because they are more worthy. But, that's normal behavior for most people which is why we have the societies we do around the world.

I have no problem with Iranians, in fact I have several that I consider good friends. However, I'd rather the US kill these nasty pieces of shit because we have an oppourtunity to boost GDP while we shit stomp them.

should have done that in early 80's... instead Rumsfeld became best buds with Saddam... but then he became enemy #1 after 911... but now Iran is enemy #1, again... all in 30 years, amazing ... while Halliburton, GD, NOC, etc. rack up the profits of war

for the anti-war types, fucking faggots, you would get raped by these goat herders if you were left in charge. you think these people give a fuck about 'fairness', about 'decency', about 'compassion'. no. they are a cancer and the cancer must kill you and everything you love and want.

i say pull the Christians out, give them Greencards (fuck, whats another 50K of dreamers) and then start the carpet bombing to followed up with tactical nukes.

Hey - you murdered for Empire and oil, goy. Your hands run red and I'd not like to be you should the dreamers be right and you stand in judgement.

You are an Assassin.

Hey man, let me help out your infantile mind with some of that ole fashioned topsy - turvey;

If you came home today and found out an ISIS sweep had slaughtered your family, burned your home and mined your yard because they disapproved of your political system and coveted the shale gas under your land ... Well I guess you'd be fine with that, right?

It's fucking pathetic you don't rank enough IQ to even think through basic logic - yet you found the 'hedge?

Turns out all you're fit for is carrying a rifle and dying on the line. Have another Schlitz and watch some football, idiot.

"nothing short of a full-scale invasion of Iraq (as well as of Syria for good measure) is likely to suffice – and even then, success is by no means guaranteed". Right, especially as it was precisely such a full-scale invasion by the US that was the condition, both necessary and sufficient, for the multiplication of Al Qaeda knockoffs and their inevitable transformation into IS.

Just as the state of Israel is the best recruiter of converts to antisemitism, so is US internevntion the best recruiter to Islamic Jihadism of all flavors.

Muppet, Indeed! Compare the state of Iraq before America invaded, now compare Iraq a decade later. Who in their right mind can say American soldiers were sent to die in a good cause? Who can say America killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis has improved their nation. Sure Saddam sucked, but Iraq has always lived under Saddams, for thousands of years, always peace in Iraq came from Saddam like leaders. The USA thought they knew best, but they were dead fucking wrong. Hell is unleashed upon the world in the form of ISIS, a force the USA and it's Arab allies STILL fund via the Al-Qaeda bases in Turkey and Jordan, still funneling arms and money to radical islamic Jihad.

"ISIS is a bit like Hitler in that way: it is so to speak making the trains run on time, while mercilessly killing large numbers of its perceived enemies. . .The group also runs what appears to be a highly effective propaganda campaign –?

Dude, Mussolini made the trains run on time.

ISIS and Hitler have nothing in common, except in the $$$ funding them both

things in iraq are definately moving at warp speed scotty. latest intel report from security company is that IS will be recognized by new government coming in no matter who it is. they simply can't mass enough force to take back the anbar province and the dam is, ironically, A REAL WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION. Obama is in over his head. THE LIVER EATERS ARE SAYING CHECK MATE.

I don't follow Iraq too closely. But I heard this moring that the US State Department is blaming the rise of ISIS on Syria and Assad. The USA is building a case that Assad's Syria aided and supported the rise of ISIS and helped transport ISIS into Iraq. Now, this was announced today in a State Department interview. Asked by reporters for evidence of Assad's involvement, the State department Spokeswoman said that she had none, but none was needed because American intelligence sources were saying that Syria was using ISIS as their agent. The reporters nealry laughed, as the USA and NATO formed, armed, funded and trained ISIS in Turkey and Jordan and turned it loose to attack Assad's Syria! NOW, the USA is claiming the enemy they turned on Syria was actually Syria's creation and allied with Assad. This is real madness, Orwellian beyond words!

The other thing that caught my attention was the Pentagon claims that air strikes are NOT WORKING. They killed a few ISIS, but ISIS is totally intact, armed to the teeth with American weapons, including armored vehicles and tanks, modern missiles and heavy artillery. By saying that air strikes were failing to retard ISIS, that seems to leave open a ground attack by America, against a force that it STILL arms and trains in Turkey and Jordan. In fact, congress just voted 500 million dollars in arms aid for anti Assad rebels. These anti Assad rebels are the Al-Qaeda and ISIS the USA has funded for over three years and now claims are agents of Assad! I ask you, How much more insane and how big can the lies get coming from the USA Government. The State department whore, the blonde bitch, she makes claims, then when asked for evidence says, "We are America, no evidence is needed, what we say goes and you better believe it". This same attitude of lies holds true for everythign having to do with the Ukraine civil war and the airliner shoot down. NOTICE the silence about the air liner. Why, well I checked a full set of damage photos from the plane, loaded onto Wiki. It is clear from dozens of photos that the plane was attacked by 30mm cannon fire aimed right at the cockpit, the left side of the cockpit at pilot level and above and behind is riddled with prefect cannon shell holes. Dozens of them. The poor pilot was clearly shot to pieces. I know enough about military, being a veteran, I know what cannon shells do to a plane fuselage. The airliner was clearly shot out of the sky by 30mm cannon fire, and two Ukie SU-25 were seen by naked eye and tracked on radar right on top of the Malaysian Jet. THUS, THE SILENCE!

How can anyone say that Assad is supporting these fucking barbarian, child-beheading, liver eating, radicals WHO ARE PRACTICING THEIR TRADE ON ASSAD'S TROOPS? Making that lie is, as far as I am concerned, treason because anyone who would lie like that is A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER.

Jesus Christ mate, if that is the position the DOS is taking us then we truly are looking at WWIII and only Vladimir Putin CAN SAVE THE CHRISTIANS OF THE WORLD because from here on out it turns into a fucking Radical Muslim Zombie Apocolypse.

If true it suggests that one hand of government has no idea what the other hand is doing. Which if true suggests we're rather closer to a military take-over than many have thought to be the case.

In the case of a coup I would largely expect US imperialism to die immediately. I know many would disagree, but most of the imperialist adventures we're seeing come out of the US executive branch, and reflect policy there. A lot of our adventures (maybe, all) have been about oil and are scripted by the major oil companies, now struggling to survive, and prepared to call in the favors they've earned buying politicians.

Little Jimmy says: "I wanna start out as a Marine Pilot, then be a billionaire, go to the most expensive clubs, find me the Finest whore, give her a Ferrari worth over a million bucks, an apartment in Copacabana, a mansion in Paris, a jet to travel throughout Europe, an Infinite Visa Card, and all the while banging her like a loose screen door in a hurricane."

The teacher, shocked, and not knowing what to do with this horrible response from little Jimmy , decides not to acknowledge what he said and simply tries to continue with the lesson . . . .

This is a war of Muslim Reformation. ISIS is the elixir of the Sunni Tribe. As pressure/heat builds to reform, those elements within the Sunni Tribe that do not want to reform will be distilled as ISIS supporters. The end result is a brittle organization that cannot put down roots. Any roots are observable and are an obvious target for those oppressed by ISIS.

For the last 10 years there has been a DNA databank put together to identify the tribes, and their leaders. Much like how Israel targetted the Hamas leadership and took out their families, the same will happen here. ISIS will break and run. The head will be chopped off.

What should be going on right now is tracking/documenting the logistical support of ISIS. Turkey and Qatar are in the crosshairs in this regard. Qatar is an obvious weak area as they will have a difficult time displacing their foreign military bases and replacing that infrastructure with something that would work. The Qatari leadership would be replaced long before they get that logisical infrastructure up and running. Unfortunately Obama currently holds the keys. Turkey and Qatar provided a great deal of the funding that got Obama elected in the first place.

also you have a new young gun running Qatar. the father (who fought the Iraqis in Gulf War I as a tank commander and he even supposedly brewed up an Iraqi tank trying to bust into Saudi) anyway, the young gun is in charge and he is a hard core Sunni...he made one of the 5 Taliban Obama gave him a sheihk

Well, this is something that few people talk about. I have extended family in the ME (though not in these particular areas) and, to be blunt, most of the land is dead. Indeed, some areas were suffering from severe deforestation back in the 1920s.

It's continual human habitation, deforestation, poor choice of crops and nomadic livestock farming over hundreds of years that has done it. The top soil is screwed.

US vs Russia, hmm no they don't really want to fight it out, but ok, maybe. US vs. ISIS. Hmm they would like to battle it out, but it seems to me a Vietnam^n (n>=2) as it has the ptential to become so much bigger. US fighting Russia AND ISIS. Nope, that's WAAAY too big. If they even try then it should be the last shyte show we get to see before the US empire falls.

Tired of the old, traditional Carnival cruise or Club Med vacation? Take a 2-week ISIS "Fight the Infidels" vacation. All expenses paid, all you have to do is pay for the air fare. Instead of boring photos of the beach, bring back a severed head to impress the office staff, you'll never just be the "Copy Boy" ever again! C'mon, see the Caliphate, Osama's asking you to come!